Tell Us What You Sew

Groz-Beckert Customer Portal Sewing

Groz-Beckert offers needles for all applications, and makes finding the right one easy

TW Special Report

“Looking for a needle in a haystack” describes an almost impossible mission to find something. Finding the perfect needle for sewing — given that manufacturer Groz-Beckert offers a range of 3,000 different types — might also seem quite a challenging job. Actually, it isn’t. The Germany-based company develops each needle to suit its intended application perfectly, and then meets user needs in the same way through its specially-designed Customer Portal for sewing.

Customer Portal

The Customer Portal was launched in 2015 and has since continued to expand. Customers from nearly every part of the world now have the option of accessing the portal’s wealth of information relating to needles and sewing, as well as its online ordering function. The real need for the platform has been proved: in 2020, half of total sales came through orders in the Customer Portal.

More recently, the Customer Portal Sewing was switched to a technically upgraded version — optimized for use on mobile devices. Another new addition is the individual start page, which shows recent orders and most frequently-purchased products. The personal customer account offers views, analysis and a dashboard displaying all relevant details about purchases.

The product catalog has been improved with new and optimized functions to find the right needles faster. The product detail page gives extensive information on the selected needle: in addition to technical details and the available point styles, users can also identify suitable applications for each needle.

Below: Special application needle SAN® 5.2 — the second-generation sewing machine needle for technical textiles

Key Components

What’s the use of the best sewing machine if skip stitches occur and threads as well as needles break? If material damage or seam puckering arises? It’s essential to choose for each task the appropriate needle in Groz-Beckert quality, especially for sensitive and challenging applications. Groz-Beckert SAN® 5.2, SAN 6, SAN 10 and SAN 10 XS incorporate what needles make a key component.

Airbags, carrying straps, car seats, upholstered furniture, protective clothing, sun protection systems … the list could continue with countless applications in the field of technical textiles, where sophisticated needles are a must. Also essential are great stability through special blade reinforcement, reliable loop pick-up for a greater safeguard against skipped stitches, uniform seam appearance and constantly gentle handling of the sewn fabric. These are the ‘musts’ but not the only advantages of SAN 5.2, the 2nd-generation sewing machine needle for technical textiles.

Special application needle SAN® 10 XS for gentle processing of fine and finest fabrics.

Thread breakage and skipped stitches are a headache in denim sewing. SAN 6 provides the cure. SAN 6 needles have a larger eye, which enables the thicker threads mostly used for this kind of application to slide through smoothly. Thicker threads can be used without increasing the needle size. The solution for skipped stitches is the Loop Control® geometry offering increased security.

Gentle and stable — perfectly designed for fine and finest fabrics — is how the special application needles SAN 10 and SAN 10 XS are best described. SAN 10 combines the requirements regarding protection of the material and needle stability. Its slim design results in a reduced cross-section in the eye area, reducing the stress on the material as the needle penetrates it. At the same time, the special geometry in the blade area offers sufficient needle stability to avoid needle breakages. SAN 10 XS is even more gentle on the material. The cylindrical blade enables a very gentle penetration of the material by the needle.

The special application needle SAN® 6 for sewing applications that require high needle stability and process security.

Top Value, Top Service

Quality has its price, but in case of Groz-Beckert sewing needles increased productivity and reduced production cost is always part of the development genius. Coming back to the Customer Portal: when logged in, users immediately see prices and availability of the needles. Reliability, as well as quick delivery, is what Groz-Beckert is perhaps best known for. How much do you value the ability to start planning for tomorrow today?

March 19, 2021

Univent Medical Finds Better Ultrasonic Welds Boost Respirator Quality And Yield

Univent Medical uses automated assembly lines to transform roll-fed materials into output of up to 4 million Atemious Pro FFP2 respirators per week, making it one of Europe’s largest FFP2 respirator producers.  Photograph courtesy of Univent.

Autefa and Emerson contribute technology to respirator production line installed by Univent Medical.

By Didier Perret

The COVID-19 pandemic hit simultaneously around the world in early 2020, putting tremendous pressure on governments, industries, healthcare organizations and others to find ways to protect the public.

On April 9, 2020, Germany’s federal government established a task force, under the direction of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi), to coordinate expanded production of personal protective equipment, tests and testing equipment, and active ingredients for COVID-19 testing in Germany and the European Union (E.U.). In short order, the BMWi task force developed an estimate that Germany would need annual production of 750 million FFP2 and FFP3 filtering respirators and 1,750 million medical face masks to meet the added level of demand.

Soon thereafter, the German federal government sought to contract with mask and respirator manufacturers to meet its ambitious goals. Univent Medical of Schwenningen, Germany, a maker of high-quality respiratory masks, received a contract that required it to dramatically increase production of its Atemious Pro FFP2 respirator.

At the time of the government’s huge request, Univent looked for new automated manufacturing lines to produce 1 million FFP2 respirators per week. Autefa Solutions Switzerland AG, Frauenfeld, Switzerland, a global machine builder, took an existing production machine concept and transformed it to comply with European safety regulations. This concept initially used ultrasonic welders, sourced in Asia, that were of entry-level quality. While these welders could support ordinary production rates in the mask-making machines, they lacked the features required to deliver and sustain superior quality at maximum rates of production. Of particular concern was their consistency and repeatability in bonding the four-layer mask laminate with the required strength at increased production speeds (see sidebar).

After ultrasonic welding equipment bonds multiple fabric layers together and attaches earloops, nearly completed respirators are folded and cut to the finished shape. Photograph courtesy of Univent.

Autefa contacted Emerson, the maker of Branson™ ultrasonic plastic welding equipment, to recommend welders that could deliver the power, quality and speed that Univent required. Emerson recommended retrofitting the four ultrasonic welding stations with high-performance Branson DCX Series ultrasonic power supplies and newly optimized ultrasonic production tooling. Weld tooling included new converters, boosters and weld sonotrodes specialized to each welding task. The tooling was fabricated and maintained by the local Emerson representative Pascal Baechtiger in Switzerland.

Accepting Autefa’s advice, Univent approved the equipment retrofits. Emerson filled the order — for 32 ultrasonic welding power supplies and the needed tooling — in less than six weeks. Upon delivery of the welders, Emerson representatives offered on-site technical support as Autefa personnel completed the welder retrofits. “The experience and responsiveness of Emerson’s Branson ultrasonic welding team enabled Autefa to start the equipment rebuilding program quickly, without a long learning curve,” said André Imhof, Autefa’s CEO Autefa Solutions Switzerland AG.

When the revamped mask-making machines resumed production, Univent felt the impact right away. Thomas Vosseler, director and co-owner of Univent, stated, “Due to the reliability and performance of the new Branson power supplies and weld tooling, each of our eight production machines have increased their speed and output with high reliability, enabling us to increase production to 4.5 million Atemious Pro FFP 2 respirators each month.”

When it comes to improved production speed and quality, every detail counts. For example, two of the four ultrasonic welding stations on each mask-making machine are dedicated to attaching the elastic earloops, which are essential to ensuring a comfortable, airtight fit. The new Branson technology affixes the left and right earloops simultaneously and in less than a quarter of a second. And, using the “energy mode” of the Branson DCX welding power supply, the welds are made perfectly reliable — a substantial increase in both quality and speed over any entry-level welding system.


Completed Atemious Pro FFP2 respirators are removed from the production line, inspected and readied for packaging.  Photograph courtesy of Univent.

Vosseler estimated that using high-end Branson welding equipment “enabled 95-percent efficiency of the existing automated lines, compared to less than 60-percent production efficiency generally observed with the entry-level ultrasonic welding equipment.” He defined production line efficiency as the ratio between how long the machine is producing good parts at full speed, compared to the time the machine slows down or stops due to technical issues, alarms or maintenance.

Based on the improved production and quality figures for the revamped production lines, Univent asked Autefa to build and deliver an additional 20 mask-production machines in 2021. Upon installation and startup of the last of these new machines, Univent estimates that it will be producing 3.5 to 4 million Atemious Pro FFP2 respirators per week, making it one of Europe’s largest FFP2 respirator producers.

This close-up shows a finished Atemious Pro FFP2 medical respirator. Embossed areas show ultrasonic welds, which are used to bond multiple layers into the outer rim of the mask, contain the foldable nose-piece, attach the earloops, and form the curve that shapes the front of the mask. Photograph courtesy of Univent.

The Atemious Pro FFP2 Respirator

The Atemious Pro filtering respirator is built to exceed Conformité Européenne (CE) FFP2 testing standards and has been demonstrated in testing to capture more than 98% of the tiny solid and liquid particles that can spread COVID-19. Like the N95 respirator to which its performance may be compared (N95 is a respirator standard for the U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health [NIOSH]), Univent’s Atemious Pro respirator forms an airtight seal with the wearer’s face, so its design must not only balance excellent particle filtration with wearer comfort but also minimize any added exhalation resistance that can cause wearer fatigue over hours of use.

While many surgical masks and filtering respirators utilize a laminate of three layers of nonwoven fabric, the Atemious Pro respirator utilizes four layers, which are bonded together using ultrasonic welding. Closest to the skin is a layer of moisture-absorbing derma fleece.  Then inside this are two special layers that perform the fine-particle filtration. They are made of an extremely tight web of meltblown polyethylene fibers. This is topped by a protective outer covering of polyethylene fleece providing the structural strength. To ensure a tight, yet comfortable fit, the laminated fabrics in the respirator incorporate an adjustable nose bridge and upper/lower attachment points for a soft, stretchable ear band and are also available with head loops.

Editor’s Note: Didier Perret is Medical Business Development manager, Branson Welding and Assembly at Emerson

March/April 2021

BASF: New Fund Creates Support for Farmers Raising Sustainably Grown Cotton

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. — March 17, 2021 — Companies that are part of BASF’s e3® Sustainable Cotton program — a cotton sustainability program that delivers item-level sustainability promises — can now directly show their support for the program’s farmers through the e3 Sustainable Cotton Grower Fund.

The fund is a unique and unprecedented effort to provide additional economic support for farmers in the program who commit to growing sustainable cotton. Vidalia Mills and General Standard are the first two companies to contribute to the fund, which launched in February.

“We’re excited to have Vidalia Mills and General Standard join us in this first-of-its-kind commitment and look forward to even more brands pledging to the fund,” said Jennifer Gasque-Crumpler, e3 Sustainable Cotton program manager for BASF. “Our vision for honest, fair, sustainable cotton isn’t possible without our dedicated farmers, and we’re grateful to our cotton fiber value chain collaborators who understand the importance of rewarding their effort.”

Brands, retailers, mills and other cotton fiber value chain companies sourcing e3 Sustainable Cotton will have the opportunity to contribute a monetary amount to the fund. At the end of each year, 100 percent of those funds will be distributed equally to e3 Sustainable Cotton farmers, which is in addition to a $2.50 per bale premium BASF provides to farmers enrolled in the program.

Cotton farmers like Elizabeth Lague will be direct recipients of the fund. Lague grows Stoneville® cotton in Tennessee and has been part of the e3 Sustainable Cotton program for the last two seasons. She also is a BASF Business Representative. As a farmer, she appreciates the opportunity she has through the BASF program to connect her cotton with companies that want to create traceability and transparency through the entire cotton fiber value chain, starting with sustainable farming practices.

“For many generations, our family has worked the land with the mindset of leaving it better than we found it,” said Lague. “It’s encouraging to see brands support this mentality and reward the farmers behind the cotton.”

The e3 Sustainable Cotton Grower Fund is part of a program that provides unmatched field-level traceability and is driven by comprehensive verification and a valued reputation for growing socially equitable, economically viable and environmentally responsible cotton. Farmers who are part of the e3 Sustainable Cotton program commit to tracking eight sustainability measures on 100 percent of their eligible cotton acres, ranging from water use and pesticide management to soil conservation and greenhouse gas emissions reduction. Through a series of digital platforms, the cotton they grow can be traced from an individual cotton bale in their field, all the way to the end consumer. To learn more about the e3 Sustainable Cotton program, visit www.e3cotton.us.

Posted March 18, 2021

Source: BASF Corp.

Salt Life Casts “The Daily Salt” — One-Stop-Shop Of Exclusive Content On Fishing, Surfing, Travel, Food, Apparel, And More

GREENVILLE, S.C. — March 18, 2021 — Delta Apparel Inc., a provider of core activewear and lifestyle apparel products, today announced that its authentic, aspirational lifestyle brand, Salt Life, has launched The Daily Salt, a guide covering anything you want to know about living the Salt Life.

Team members, influencers, and staff will showcase, guide, and demonstrate “how-to” videos and provide exclusive articles from amazing destinations around the world. From the island surfing of Hawaii to the white sand beaches of Florida, a trip to Cabo San Lucas, and even Hong Kong, the breadth of content will whet the appetite for blue skies, warm sandy beaches, fishing, surfing, and more.

Salt Life President Jeff Stillwell commented, “We envision this as a place for our customers and others to surf for all things Salt Life, such as recipes, interviews with our team members, beach workouts, and roundups of our favorite locations around the world to catch a wave.”

Additionally, The Daily Salt is expected to expand into offering directories for the “best in” any category in specific highlighted destinations, such as Key West, Florida, Dana Point, California, Maui, Hawaii, Roatan (Central America), Cabo, Mexico, and many more.

To learn more, please visit, www.saltlife.com/the-daily-salt.

Debut features on The Daily Salt include:

How To:

  • Venerable Team Members Colin McPhillips and Kieran Anderson will guide you in “picking the perfect surfboard”
  • SUP (stand up paddleboard) World Champion Connor Baxter provides a beginner’s guide to SUP
  • Fishing for Bonefish and permitting in foreign waters and stateside – offering techniques, bait, and special gear
  • Spearfishing 101 – how to dive into an exhilarating and new fishing experience

Lifestyle:

  • Simple beach workouts
  • Create your own Ceviche (with the fish you just caught)
  • Uniquely designed at-home workouts with Conner Baxter

Activities:

  • Hear about the best surf spots on the Atlantic Coast
  • Best scuba places in the world
  • Location highlights from various favorite places to chill, workout, fish, dive, surf, and more
  • Whether you want to visit the Great Blue Hole in Belize, The Outer Banks surf, or the swells in Hawaii or Australia, The Daily Salt is your destination to find your muse.

Posted March 18, 2021

Source: Delta Apparel Inc.

Tailored Brands Announces CEO Transition

FREMONT, Calif. — March 16, 2021 — Tailored Brands Inc. today announced that Dinesh Lathi will step down from his role as president and CEO, effective March 26. Board members Bob Hull and Peter Sachse will act as Interim Co-CEOs while the board searches for a permanent successor.

“It has been my pleasure to work as part of the talented and dedicated Tailored Brands team, and I want to thank all of my colleagues for their support and many contributions over the past five years,” Lathi said. “I believe in the power of our brands and am confident the hard work we have done together has put the company on a path toward long-term growth and success. I will be rooting for everyone at Tailored Brands as you take these next steps.”

In December 2020, Tailored Brands successfully completed its Chapter 11 restructuring, and earlier this month, the company announced $75 million in new financing. After these events, and with business performance beginning to recover from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, the board and Lathi mutually agreed that this is the right time to re-evaluate the skills and experiences needed in the CEO role as the company prepares for its next chapter of growth and success.

“With a solid financial structure now in place and the support of its new owners behind it, Tailored Brands is well positioned for growth in its next chapter,” Hull stated. “We are immensely grateful for Dinesh’s contributions as both a director and executive of the Company over the past five years, and especially for his leadership in successfully guiding the Company through both the restructuring and the unprecedented challenges of the global pandemic. We wish him well in all of his future endeavors.”

Sachse added: “The team at Tailored Brands is incredibly strong, and even in the midst of the pandemic, Dinesh guided them to make smart investments to strengthen the brands and the value proposition they deliver for customers. As a result, the company is now delivering enhanced online and omnichannel options to shop seamlessly across channels, piloting new in-store experiences to make shopping safer and more enjoyable, and offering an expanded product assortment. We will continue to accelerate this progress to meet the evolving needs of our customers and ensure we’re earning their continued loyalty every day by helping them look and feel their best for moments that matter.”

Posted March 18, 2021

Source: Tailored Brands Inc.

Luxury Daily® Hosts Webinar On Protecting Brands From Fast-Growing Counterfeiting, Return Fraud

NEW YORK CITY — March 18, 2021 — Luxury Daily® will be hosting a complimentary webinar on April 7 at 11 a.m. to Noon EST, spotlighting the new challenges fashion and apparel brands are facing with fraud return and highlighting prevention methods through a conversation in partnership with Avery Dennison.

As online shopping increases and digitalization accelerates, brands and consumers are faced with many consequences. Counterfeiters are exploiting these trends, growing in reach and becoming harder to spot — and consumers seek reassurance as they transact online. It is more important than ever for brands to invest in the right digital authentication. Connection is protection.

This fireside chat will feature a Q&A with speakers and highlight the following themes:

  • How consumers’ attitudes and purchase behaviors have changed since the pandemic and why authentication matters now more than ever
  • How the penetration of online sales has offered unprecedented opportunities to counterfeiters
  • The importance of brands to be able to identify counterfeits and unauthorized third-party resellers, and address return fraud
  • Discover the power of an army of global consumers to collect evidence cost-effectively on your behalf
  • The benefits for brands of offering consumer-enabled authentication as data points to support the brand protection teams
  • Connecting with consumers to protect your brand

Speakers to include:

  • Greta Moser, global director of product line management, brand protection and factory automation solutions, Avery Dennison
  • Michele Casucci, founder/CEO, Certilogo
  • David Franklin, global sales director for brand protection, NetNames
  • Regis Messali, communication and development director, Unifab

In conversation with Mickey Alam Khan, editor in chief, Luxury Daily

This webinar is part of a Luxury Daily® series in partnership with Avery Dennison.

Posted March 18, 2021

Source: Luxury Daily

Embracing ‘Reflections’: Sunbrella And United Fabrics Release Serene New Collection

BURLINGTON, N.C. — March 18, 2021 — Sunbrella and United Fabrics have unveiled “Reflections,” their second joint contract upholstery collection to help design professionals discover new opportunities for peaceful and functional spaces. Featuring 30 new durable, soft and bleach-cleanable fabrics in tactile textures and coordinating colors, Reflections is designed to complement the Origins collection and other fabrics within the Sunbrella Contract portfolio.

“Right now, we are all reflecting on the thematic moments that define us and taking time to appreciate the little things in life. This collection honors that idea with nature-inspired motifs that elicit feelings of comfort and peace,” said Greg Voorhis, executive design director at Sunbrella. “We value the opportunity to provide fabrics for a new wave of commercial design that will prioritize versatility with lasting style.”

The patterns in Reflections evoke feelings of serenity while honoring design elements that are increasingly conscious of new demands for commercial environments. Engineered to hold its vibrant color even in high-traffic spaces, the collection is durable, stain-resistant, bleach-cleanable and comfortable, with fabrics that feature soft yarns and bold design.

“We were thrilled to partner with Sunbrella again to develop our second contract upholstery collection,” said Scott Warwick, president and CEO of United Fabrics. “It was important for these fabrics to build on the success of our first Origins collection through new colors and textures that are timely and relevant.”

Patterns from the collection include:

  • Inga-Boho – acts as an anchor to the collection with a free-spirited nature.
  • Palma – featuring a loosely styled botanical leaf, this grounding and reversable graphic represents a yearning to escape through travel and the peace found in nature.
  • Daphne – a fresh take on a modern cabana style stripe, it brings a calming sense of order to chaos.
  • Miles and Velma – these new solids carry the freeing nature of Sunbrella’s outdoor performance indoors through tactile textures that feel warm and comfortable.

Reflections is suitable for a variety of commercial hospitality settings, from hotels to restaurants and beyond. The exclusive collection is available through United Fabrics.

Posted March 18, 2021

Source: Sunbrella Contract

Automation Manufacturing Resiliency Not Resistance

By Ian Millington

Automation is causing seismic shifts across many industries, as the adoption of intelligent technology promises to transform the way we live and work.

At its core, automation has the potential to reduce our reliance on manual or physical labour, drive process efficiency, reduce administrative burden and produce more effective workflows in the process.

But with some estimates placing high levels of automation at just three percent of all goods produced, there is a clear need for business owners to wake up to the benefits technology can provide in building the factories of the future.

Ian Millington, managing director of adi Automation— a division of the multidisciplinary engineering company adi Group — discusses how an accelerated adoption of technology can help fix supply chain vulnerabilities and boost business prospects in 2021.

A Weak Link In The Chain

Before COVID-19 arrived on the scene, a business’ ability to adapt and respond to marketplace changes was strong indicator of its industry success. Fast forward to today, and without this kind of business mobility, manufacturers expose themselves to a ruthless economic climate, whereby manufacturers across the world are having to down tools and shut up shop, maybe for the last time.

Supply chains have been particularly exposed at this point in time, as manufacturing resiliency, flexibility and scalability is put into perspective with increased food demands, data center needs and medical responsibility.

Business owners have had to learn the hard way that a dependency on human labour and access to physical space makes it vulnerable to disruption. So with the manufacturing industry looking to fight back against the virus, we’d argue that now is the time for automation to take its place in achieving a highly cohesive, resilient and responsive manufacturing ecosystem.

Automating Fear

Manufacturers have long intimated a desire to automate systems, yet this has been juxtaposed by an ingrained resistance for decades. The cost of implementation and a fear for the loss of human jobs has been well publicized over the years, and in an economic climate whereby job safety is at a premium, it’s a little wonder bosses have further retrenched into old habits.

Low cost at a reasonable rate of quality has become the norm for the past twenty years, often meaning manufacturers have looked overseas for cheap labor, land and shipping infrastructure. But with COVID-19 rattling this old school supply chain in a massive way, now is the time for manufacturers to step up and act differently if they want to not only survive but thrive in the years ahead.

Robot And Human Efficiency

Firstly, there’s solid evidence out there that automation doesn’t really lead to a loss of human jobs. Think of one of the oldest industries out there — farming. It is true that in the early 20th century, there were more then 10 million farmers in the United States alone, compared to 1 million today. Yet this decline was accompanied by new technology, which created jobs in the service, blue collar and white collar industries. Automation creates jobs in new digital based roles that are expected to have a global economic impact of over 11 trillion British pounds by 2030.

Remote Guidance

Capital expenditure has been in heavy retreat during the pandemic, so it is of some relief that by deploying robots to automate many of the mundane, repetitive tasks associated with manufacturing processes, firms can shift their spending from capital to operating expenses, minimizing both cost and risk.

One of the huge benefits that has enabled many factories to continue operations as normal, amidst social distancing guidelines, is remote working practices. At adi, we’ve seen the benefit of this in our partnership with Rockwell Automation and its ThinManager production platform. Delivering centralized data management via a single server-based technology, manufacturers are able to shield themselves from costly periods of downtime and production outages.

Ian Millington

Understanding this further, take for example how manufacturing environments can be quite inhospitable to electronics such as computers. A typical PC may breakdown inside two to five years depending on conditions. If you had 20 PC stations in one plant, that could result in a massive outage or loss of data to your business taking approximately eight hours to fix at best. That’s one outage potentially every two months.

ThinManager utilizes Thin Clients instead of bulky PCs connected to screens on the production environment. With no moving parts, thin clients are less prone to overheating and breakdown, while they can also operate as plug-and-play devices, meaning any downtime is minimal. The ease of installation means extra screens can be easily installed for social distancing of personnel.

Similar applications can be applied for remote monitoring systems, allowing personnel to access plant data in a variety of simple to use and graphical formats, from anywhere using equipment such as laptops, tablets or mobile phones. Data can be used and updated to maximize production whilst being away from the manufacturing environment.  Remote access and monitoring is therefore transforming production sectors as diverse as food and beverage, chemical and general manufacturing.

Companies are looking for ever more innovative ways to operate efficiently with less production floor operatives being available. Automation is just one of a number of technologies which can be applied to existing facilities to improve efficiencies through use of data.

By acting now, manufacturers that can set the stage for the next wave of industrial transformation and futureproof themselves against manufacturing’s next inevitable wave of disruption.

Editor’s Note: Ian Millington is MD of adi Automation, a division of the multi-disciplined engineering business adi Group. With more than 20 years of experience across technology, engineering and manufacturing spheres, Millington’s background spans a diverse mix of sectors including power generation, oil and gas, food and beverage and automotive.

March 19, 2021

United States Fashion Industry Association (USFIA) Testifies Before The Senate Finance Committee On The Fight Against Forced Labor

WASHINGTON, DC — March 18, 2021 — This morning, United States Fashion Industry Association (USFIA) President Julia K. Hughes testified before the Senate Finance Committee on Fighting Forced Labor: Closing Loopholes and Improving Customs Enforcement to Mandate Clean Supply Chains and Protect Workers.

She testified on behalf of the industry about the fight against forced labor and how to improve enforcement to reach our shared goal of elimination of forced labor. Even before very public media reports about forced labor, the industry along with apparel, footwear, and retail associations joined together to create a forced labor working group. In addition to sharing resources and best practices, the industry is pioneering and implementing new technologies and innovative approaches to decipher where supply chains are susceptible to forced labor.

In USFIA’s testimony, we highlight the need for a multi-stakeholder approach that includes a combination of civil society, NGOs, companies, governments, and international institutions to reach the shared goal of eliminating forced labor.

Hughes also outlines how the U.S. Government can help us tackle forced labor in the supply chain. USFIA supports a “whole of government” approach that would create a strategy to span across the State Department, USTR, the Department of Labor, the Commerce Department, the NSC, and USDA.

Looking at the role of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to implement enforcement measures, USFIA strongly encourages transparency in the approach to improve enforcement efforts. We support a series of recommendations released this week by the Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee (COAC) Intelligent Enforcement Subcommittee Forced Labor Working Group that urge CBP to expand its communication and collaboration with the trade and adopt “objective” methodology to measure the success of their enforcement efforts from the communities most impacted by forced labor rather than enforcement output.

“The task is not easy (to put it mildly). My personal belief is that to eliminate forced labor we need to go beyond what companies can do on their own, and go beyond an emphasis on punitive measures, to use multi-stakeholder approaches. The combination of civil society, NGOs, companies, governments and international institutions is needed to reach our shared goal to eliminate forced labor.”

Click here to read her full testimony as prepared for the hearing.

Posted March 18, 2021

Source: United States Fashion Industry Association (USFIA)

Study Finds Ideal Placement, Pressure For Armband That Could Track Heart Rate

Researchers are working on developing an armband with three dry electrodes that could track heart rate. Photograph courtesy of Caitlin Knowles

By Laura Oleniacz

North Carolina State University researchers took a step forward in the development of an armband that could track the heart’s electrical activity without requiring bulky wiring or sticky gel on the skin.

Specifically, the researchers determined the ideal placement for three electrodes in their band design, and how tightly the band needs to be worn, to best detect electrical signals from the heart.

The findings are the latest advance in a multi-institutional effort to develop an armband that takes electrocardiogram, or ECG, measurements in order to track heart rate. They are ultimately envisioning a device that could be worn as an arm sleeve throughout the day, powered by energy captured from body heat or movement.

“This study is the first step in identifying all of the components to make the armband a reality,” said the study’s first author, Braden M. Li, a Ph.D. candidate in NC State’s Wilson College of Textiles. “We identified the ideal electrode location to gather heart signals and figured out how the armband pressure affects the electrocardiogram quality.”

In the study, the researchers studied the placement of electrodes in various locations on a volunteer’s upper left arm in order to identify the best placement for three electrodes for tracking the heart’s electrical activity. They identified the best placement from among 50 different combinations. While electrodes are conventionally used “wet,” or along with a gel substance in ECG devices, researchers are working on a design that would use dry electrodes since they have the potential to be used over a longer period of time as part of a wearable device.

They also measured the pressure and heart signal of three different sizes of the band in order to understand how tightly it needs to be worn.

“If we don’t have enough compression, then we don’t get the same quality of data that we need,” said the study’s senior author Jesse S. Jur, professor of textile engineering, chemistry and science at NC State.

They made the band prototype by screen printing the electrodes into a plastic film through a method uncovered in a previous study in Jur’s lab at NC State. Then, they heat pressed the electrodes on to a polyester and spandex fabric.

“Screen printing is a very traditional process in textile manufacturing,” Li said. “We wanted to choose a manufacturing process that could be easily translated into the textile process.”

The work is part of a multi-institution research effort conducted through the National Science Foundation-funded, engineering research-based Center for Advanced Self-Powered Systems of Integrated Sensors and Technologies (ASSIST). The researchers in the center are working to develop wearable devices that can be powered by the body’s own thermal or mechanical energy. For the armband, they are working on the design to get the best heart signal while using the least amount of energy.

They are designing the armband with three electrodes, rather than with 12, so that it could potentially be powered by the wearer. While increasing the number of leads could capture the heart’s electrical signal with greater accuracy, they are working on a design that could be more easily worn, and by a person of any body type.

“Part of the goal for the ASSIST center is to design self-powered, wearable electronics,” Jur said. “We’re always balancing how much power would be required for the sensors system, data processing and communication in order to match that for the power you might be able to harvest from the body.”

The study, “Influence of Armband Form Factors on Wearable ECG Monitoring Performance,” was published online in IEEE Sensors Journal on February 18, 2021. It was authored by Li, Jur, Amanda C. Mills, and Tashana J. Flewwellin, Jacklyn Herzberg, Azin Saberi Bosari, Michael Lim and Yaoyao Jia. The study was supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation through the Engineering Research Center for Advanced Self-Powered Systems for Integrated Sensors and Technologies (ASSIST) under grant EEC 1160483.

Editor’s Note: Laura Oleniacz is Public Communications Specialist at NC State News Services.

March 19, 2021

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